Enrique said the team’s approach in the impressive wins over England and Croatia in the UEFA Nations League is what made the difference for a revamped squad since he took over. “What I liked the most in these 10 days was the players’ attitude on and off the field,” the former Barcelona coach said. “In only a few training sessions they were able to put our ideas into practice.”...
Rigsby, Hensley and Rooney are an exceptionally youthful triumvirate. In 2014, the national team’s goaltending core was headlined by a then 28-year-old Jessie Vetter. A 25-year-old Molly Schaus and a 26-year-old Brianne McLaughlin completed the trio. All three goaltenders also represented USA at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. So it’s a safe bet that we could see this new trio, especially Hensley and Rooney, with the national team for quite some time....
An integral part of Channel Nine The legendary commentator is still believed to be recovering from a severe back injury after suffering a car crash near his Cooge home last year. The injury was serious enough for Richie to skip the 2013-14 Ashes series. Channel nine holds the broadcast rights in Australia for the Indian tour this summer. The absence of the highly rated commentator was felt during the last Ashes tour....
The aircraft, operated by Bolivian company LaMia, came down in mountainous territory near Medellin last month, killing 71 people on board. Officials investigating the cause of the crash have stated that errors on the part of the pilot, the airline and Bolivian flight regulators were to blame, rather than a technical malfunction. Colonel Freddy Bonilla, Colombia’s secretary for air safety, told the media: “No technical factor was part of the accident, everything involved human error, added to a management factor in the company’s administration and the management and organisation of the flight plans by the authorities in Bolivia....
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The vice-president of Brazilian top flight side Chapecoense has vowed to get the club back on its feet and playing again next year after a plane crash in Colombia wiped out almost the entire squad. Colombia’s worst air disaster in two decades killed all but five people as the team flew to face Atletico Nacional of Medellin in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final, South America’s equivalent of the Europa League....
Lynn explained heading into Week 1 that he plans to take a tandem approach at the running back position while Gordon continues his holdout into the regular season. Austin Ekeler is expected to get the start, while Justin Jackson will also get some touches. Lynn said he thinks both players bring new energy to the offense. “I’ve always used those guys as a tandem,” Lynn said (via ESPN). “That’s not going to change....
Rivers was injured twice in Sunday’s 13-6 victory against winless Oakland but remained in the game. Afterward, while commenting on Rivers’ toughness, Gates said: “For those who don’t know, he’s been dealing with a rib injury, a very severe rib injury. So he’s been toughing it out these last three, four weeks.” Asked Monday about Gates’ comment, McCoy said: “Philip’s never missed a snap in practice and he hasn’t been in treatment with James, so I would not say severe injury....
The franchise is facing a Jan. 15 deadline to decide whether to join the Rams in LA, though team chairman Dean Spanos has said he will wait until after the regular season ends before making the final call. MORE: Ideal cities for NFL relocation “Dean has said that he wants everyone to be able to focus on the remainder of the Chargers’ season, and so (he) won’t be making any final decisions until after the season is over,” said Mark Fabiani, who is in charge of finding a permanent home for the team....
The Chargers ended their season with a 31-21 defeat at the Kansas City Chiefs in Rivers’ possible farewell on Sunday. Rivers – an eight-time Pro Bowler – is out of contract after this season and the 38-year-old’s future remains up in the air. Pressed on his future post-game, Rivers was overcome with emotion as he fronted the media amid the uncertainty. “If this is the last time here or last time in this uniform, that’s a possibility,” Rivers told reporters....
During Monday’s edition of “Grant and Danny” on 106.7 The Fan, Barkley blamed “[politically correct] people” for taking the fun out of the “NBA on TNT” show that features Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson discussing the biggest topics around the league. Barkley feels that each member of the panel still offers funny input but knows there is always the possibility of a strong reaction. “You can’t even have fun nowadays without these jackasses trying to get you canceled and things like that,” Barkley said....
Following a few jabs from Warriors forward Draymond Green on Friday, the “NBA on TNT” analyst fired back as part of an interview during Tuesday’s edition of “The Dan Patrick Show.” Green previously told reporters he was going to take Barkley’s job and claimed Barkley wasn’t “smart” or “qualified” enough to talk basketball at his level. MORE: Green reignites feud with Barkley Barkley dismissed Green’s comments with what amounted to a verbal pat on the head....
“I talked to a couple of my friends in Detroit, they were saying please hurry up and get that wall so they can’t come back,” Barkley said after the Pistons lost to the Mavericks 122-111. “Get that wall up so they don’t come back,” he added. The two teams played the game in Mexico City, marking the fourth consecutive season that the NBA has played games in Mexico as a way to continue to expand the league to a worldwide scale....
That being said, while Mario is without a doubt Martinet’s most famous role, Martinet has never typecast or pigeonholed into solely performing mascot roles. Indeed, he has a few other famous roles that are not only occasionally unrelated to Mario, but completely differ from the rather one-note, happy go lucky role people know him for. Indeed, these roles are sometimes part of works belonging to different genres and different aesthetics from Mario’s famously cartoony and colorful visuals....
Tiger Woods again declined to compete in the Fort Worth Invitational, just one of five invitational tournaments on the PGA Tour. To date, Tiger has only played once in this tournament: in 1997, when he finished tied for fourth. Considering Tiger’s focus on majors and the fact he has a lifetime membership on the PGA Tour, it’s unlikely he’ll ever play this tournament again. MORE: Watch the Charles Schwab Challenge live with fuboTV (7-day trial)...
The Tour halted proceedings on March 12 after the opening round of The Players’ Championship. A combined 11 tournaments have been canceled—six of them were scheduled to be played between March and May—with PGA executives having to reshuffle the calendar following a 10-week suspension. Koepka began the year as the top-ranked player in the world but lost the crown to McIlroy in February. He had struggled to find form after spending three months away from the course following knee surgery....
Delhi had a slightly tougher route to the summit clash – they lost their opening match to India Blue, so the encounter with India Red became a virtual semi-final. They triumphed over Yusuf Pathan’s side by a whopping 112 runs, with captain Virat Kohli and former U-19 WC winning skipper Unmukt Chand standing up to be counted. Veteran seamer Ashish Nehra has also been among the wickets and, quite surprisingly, has done well with the bat in the only chance he got....
Parker, a former prep star at nearby Simeon High School, had 27 points, nine rebounds and two steals in a spectacular homecoming. But it was his fellow freshman star that made the biggest plays in the final minutes of a taut thriller between two storied programs. MORE: Champions Classic photos Wiggins drained a stepback jumper to give the Jayhawks an 85-81 lead with 1:33 to go, and then had a fast-break dunk after a steal by Perry Ellis....
These are the guys you think don’t need any time to mature and develop as basketball players? These are the guys you want intersecting with LeBron James and Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose after about 10 days of training camp? MORE: Champions Classic photos | Just try and guard Julius Randle | Box score Yes, these Kentucky players who were down two handfuls before even four minutes of their first serious college basketball game had passed, who missed 16 free throws and committed 17 turnovers and allowed Michigan State to run like it was October at Keeneland—they don’t need all this?...
Madrid crashed out of Spain’s domestic cup competition in the quarter-finals on away goals on Wednesday, as they went down 2-1 to Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu, prompting an angry response from the supporters. Despite having won the Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup this season, the pressure on head coach Zinedine Zidane was already mounting, with Los Blancos sitting 19 points adrift of Barcelona in La Liga....
In case you didn’t know… Messi is yet to play a competitive game for the Catalan giants this season after picking up a calf injury during pre-season training over the summer. The Argentina international has, however, been named in the Blaugrana’s squad for the Champions League Group F opener with Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park. The 32-year-old forward has missed all four of Barcelona’s La Liga fixtures and Ernesto Valverde has admitted that the player could not be ready in time for the European clash....
